Public utilities provide electric, gas, water or telephone service to customers in a specified area. Utilities have a duty to provide safe and adequate service on reasonable terms to anyone who lives within the service area on without discriminating between customers. Because most utilities operate in near monopolistic conditions, they can be heavily regulated by local, state, and federal authorities. Generally, the local and state agencies are called Public Service Commissions (PSC) or Public Utility Commissions (PUC). Municipal Utilities and Rural Electric Cooperatives may be unregulated though.
Chemung is a town in Chemung County, New York, USA. The population was 2,665 at the 2000 census. The town name is derived from the river flowing through it, which means in the native dialect, "Big Horn. " The Town of Chemung is in the southeast corner of the county and is southeast of Elmira, New York. It is part of the 'Elmira, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area'.